19 hour layover when we are 1 hour away from cruise land tour

[runningred1]

this is our first time having the cruise line book our air (supposedly pay i air fair, guest flys free)   we are going to alaska  We just got our air fair info and we have a 19 hour layover in Anchorage before flying to Fairbanks  we arrive in Fairbanks at 10pm then start our land portion the next morning.  This seems a little ridiculous and we will be exhausted before we even begin.  We are flying from the east coast (BWI)  is this typical for a cruise line to book air fair this way?  what action can I take to change it?  any suggestions are appreciated

[FlyerTalker]

Posting the actual flights and times always helps.

[fbgd]

1 hour ago, runningred1 said:

is this typical for a cruise line to book air fair this way? 

 

Whatever they can get cheapest is typical. 

 

So you're flying overnight into Anchorage and arriving pretty early by the sound of things. Anchorage is neat little city. Why not turn this into part of your vacation? Get yourself a day room at a hotel near the airport and sleep for part of it if you're worried about being exhausted.

 

There's an aviation museum right beside the airport that I enjoyed (although I am an aviation enthusiast). You could even arrange a seaplane tour of the area, or up to Denali and back from Lake Hood itself. The city has some interesting attractions and you can always just walk/eat/drink...

 

Personally I welcome some of these kinds of unintended stopovers, it's a chance to get a quick view at somewhere you might not have done otherwise.

[Globaliser]

5 hours ago, runningred1 said:

this is our first time having the cruise line book our air (supposedly pay i air fair, guest flys free) ...  This seems a little ridiculous ... is this typical for a cruise line to book air fair this way?

 

If you want it cheap, you're likely to get whatever you're given that's cheap. Sometimes you may get lucky - but sometimes not and you may just get the dregs of whatever the airline can't sell any other way. If you really want more control over how, when and where, you will usually have to pay more for that.

[6rugrats]

There usually is no "free" for cruises.  Did you price out this trip without the "free" airfare?  Usually, the price of your fare will go down.  Maybe try that.

[hallux]

32 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

There usually is no "free" for cruises.  Did you price out this trip without the "free" airfare?  Usually, the price of your fare will go down.  Maybe try that.

This sounds like an NCL cruise.  It's either take all the perks (including having the air option available) or take a sail-away with none of them.  Not taking the air does not reduce the base fare of the cruise.  NCL is charging, for a random Alaska cruise in August with the "gateway" airport as BWI, $1,100 for the first guest airfare, the second is free.  Find me TWO tickets to Alaska for $1,100, round-trip, on Delta, American or United (the typical domestic airlines used by NCL).

[runningred1]

part of our land tour is stopping at Anchorage before getting on the ship so I don't really need extra time in Anchorage.  we arrive in Anchorage a little after midnight then leave at 7pm that night

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by runningred1

[Zach1213]

35 minutes ago, runningred1 said:

part of our land tour is stopping at Anchorage before getting on the ship so I don't really need extra time in Anchorage.  we arrive in Anchorage a little after midnight then leave at 7pm that night

 

Oof. Yeah, I would vote for looking for an airport hotel to check in to at midnight, hope you can get a bit of a late checkout (even if it's only like 1pm), and then try to kill time at the airport or somewhere else in Anchorage before your 7pm ANC-FAI flight. 

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, runningred1 said:

what action can I take to change it?  any suggestions are appreciated

 

What cruise line?  Some lines used to offer an air deviation option that allowed the guest to choose the flights that they wanted.  There was a fee for that.  I have used it several times and was always pleased with the program.  

 

14 hours ago, fbgd said:

There's an aviation museum right beside the airport that I enjoyed (although I am an aviation enthusiast). You could even arrange a seaplane tour of the area, or up to Denali and back from Lake Hood itself. The city has some interesting attractions and you can always just walk/eat/drink...

 

These are good suggestions for the OP.  Even if the OP is going to be visiting Anchorage as part of their land tour, Anchorage has several interesting sites to visit.  I have visited the aviation museum and found it very interesting; I'd recommend that as well.  

[hallux]

33 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

What cruise line?  Some lines used to offer an air deviation option that allowed the guest to choose the flights that they wanted.  There was a fee for that.

Per my (and other's) previous posts, this appears to be NCL based on the way the offer was described.  NCL WILL allow a deviation (and is currently even offering a CREDIT for it, not charging) but that needs to be recorded 75 days or more before sailing.  Once the flights are ticketed, and it seems they are if the OP knows the flight times, nothing can be done (believe me, I tried once).  This is not a situation where you're using the cruise line as a TA and you can pick the flights, this is where you give the cruise line free reign to book your flights in whatever way they can to get you to the ship on time.

[Globaliser]

On 4/21/2022 at 3:52 AM, runningred1 said:

We just got our air fair info and we have a 19 hour layover in Anchorage before flying to Fairbanks  we arrive in Fairbanks at 10pm then start our land portion the next morning.  This seems a little ridiculous and we will be exhausted before we even begin.

 

23 hours ago, runningred1 said:

we arrive in Anchorage a little after midnight then leave at 7pm that night

 

I think that the cruise line's actually done you a favour here. Your original post made it sound like you were arriving at Anchorage at about 3 or 4 am.

 

But actually, what you have got is an afternoon's flying from (presumably) the east coast via (probably) Seattle, getting to Anchorage in time to go to a hotel and get a good night's sleep, and then have a slow day that will (a) start your holiday in a relaxed way; and (b) prevent you getting exhausted before you even begin.

 

I can't believe that your land tour will allow you enough time to see everything there is to see in Anchorage. But even if you're not really interested in the place, or you already know it like the back of your hand, you could spend a day drinking cocktails by the hotel pool or curled up somewhere reading a book.

 

It could have been so much worse than this.